Weekly Notes: April 12th

The
Chicago Fire (0-2-1, 1 point) return to the road for their third road match in
four weeks as they head to the Nation’s capital to take on D.C. United on
Saturday, April 17 at 6:30 PM CT, live on Comcast SportsNet. Following
their Opening Night defeat, the Fire chase their first victory of the season
against Eastern Conference rival United. The four-time MLS Cup Champions have
gotten off to a rocky start, losing three straight games to open their 2010 MLS
campaign. Last weekend, United was defeated 3-2 by expansion side Philadelphia
Union. With five MLS Cup Championships and six U.S. Open Cups between them, the
two storied MLS franchises will meet for the 38th time on Saturday,
with the Fire slightly behind all-time 13-16-5.

CHICAGO
FIRE WEEKLY TRAINING SCHEDULE – APRIL 13 – April 18

Chicago
Fire players and coaches will be made available to media at the TOYOTA PARK practice
field Tuesday-Friday, following training. Media will be able to begin
conducting interviews after training, which runs approximately two to two and
a-half hours.

*Training is open to the media. Fire
players and coaches will be made available immediately following training,
which runs two to two and a-half hours. Please contact Becky Carroll at 312.350.5260
or Brendan Hannan at 708.496.6725 for media requests.

CHICAGO
FIRE VS. D.C. UNITED

The
Fire are 5-10-4 on the road at RFK Stadium and have struggled to find the
net in D.C., scoring 23 goals in 19 games while conceding 32.

The
Men in Red’s last victory against United was May 8, 2008, when Justin Mapp
and Cuauhtemoc Blanco tallied to give the Fire a 2-0 victory at RFK
Stadium.

Dating
back to 2006, the Fire are 3-6-4 against D.C.

The
Fire defeated United 2-0 at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, CA to win the 1998
MLS Cup. Jerzy Podbrozny and Diego Gutierrez tallied and Peter Nowak, with
two assists was named the game’s MVP as the Fire won the MLS Cup in their
inaugural season.

The
Fire have never lost to United in post season play, going 5-0-2 in post
season meetings in ’98,’03,’05 and ’07.

Fire
midfielder Justin Mapp was drafted by United with the fourth pick overall
in the 2002 MLS SuperDraft. The Project-40 player played only 28 minutes
for D.C. in his first year as a pro before being acquired by to the Fire
in a trade that sent Dema Kovalenko to D.C. before the 2003 season.

Two
of MLS’ All-Time Best XI forwards face-off as 36-year-old Jaime Moreno and
37-year-old Brian McBride. Moreno, who tallied in last week’s defeat to
the Union, is the MLS All-Time scoring leader with 132 goals. McBride
recently scored his 75th goal and is one assist away from his
50th career MLS assist.

United
currently rosters three players that spent time with in the Chicago Fire
Player Development system: midfielders Brandon Barklage (2008) and Thabiso
Khumalo (2003-04) and defender Barry Rice (2009). Additionally, Khumalo
was selected 36th overall by the Fire in the 2005 MLS
SuperDraft.

FIRE FALL IN FRONT OF 20,276 FANS AT
OPENING NIGHT AT TOYOTA PARK

The
Chicago Fire were defeated 2-1 by the San Jose Earthquakes in front of the
largest Opening Night crowd in TOYOTA PARK history. Marco Pappa’s wonder-strike
was not enough to elevate the Fire to victory, as Arturo Alvarez and Ike Opara
tallied for the ‘Quakes in front of a sold-out crowd at TOYOTA PARK. The loss
dropped the Fire to 0-2-1, with 1 point on the season. It was the club’s first
Opening Night loss at TOYOTA PARK and only the team’s third loss at home to
kickoff a season. The Fire are now 7-3-3 on Opening Night since 1998.

Pappa’s golazo from 25-yards out opened his
2010 account. The strike marks the second year in a row that the Guatemalan
international has scored in a Fire home opener. Pappa recorded the lone goal in
the Fire’s 1-0 victory over the New York Red Bulls on April 5, 2009, en route
to tallying five goals and four assists during the campaign. To check out
Pappa’s goal click here.

MEXICO READIES FOR 2010 FIFA WORLD CUP WITH
MATCH IN CHICAGO

The Mexico Men’s national team begins
preparations for the 2010 FIFA World Cup with an exhibition match at Soldier
Field against Senegal on Monday, May 10 at 8:00 PM CT. Mexico boss Javier Aguirre
called in 17 players for El Tri’s four exhibition matches in North
America meeting Ecuador on May 7 in New Jersey, Senegal on May 10 in Chicago
and Angola three days later in Houston before playing Chile in a World Cup
send-off match May 16 in Mexico City. Among those called in to camp by Aguirre,
is former Chicago Fire forward Cuauhtémoc Blanco. The play-making Blanco will
return to Chicago for the first time since he departed for Second Division
Mexican side Veracruz in the 2010 offseason.

FIRE CHOOSE 10 PARTICIPANTS TO TRAIN WITH
ACADEMY AFTER SUENO MLS 2010 – BUILT BY THE HOME DEPOT, STOPS IN CHICAGO

With 400 teenagers participating in Sueño
MLS 2010 – Built by The Home Depot, the Chicago Fire Soccer Club selected the
10 contestants who will train with the club’s academy throughout the week.
Showing his continued interest in player development in the United States,
Chicago Fire head coach Carlos de los Cobos made an appearance on Sunday as he
announced the 10 selected contenders and gave words of encouragement to the
teenagers for their future soccer endeavors.

By the end of the week, the Chicago Fire
scouts will narrow the number of selected participants to five that will be
sent to Los Angeles for the “Final Event” to take place May 5-9. Having made
its first stops in Houston and Chicago, the two-day event will descend on Los
Angeles this weekend starting on Saturday, April 17 for the third and last stop
before the “Final Event”. After picking the five winners from each city, league
scouts and celebrity guests will be on hand to provide guidance and select the
ultimate winner in front of a live national television audience on Sunday, May
9. “República Deportiva,” the highest-rated weekly sports magazine program on
Spanish-language television in the United States which airs nationally every
Sunday, will follow the action weekly in a unique “reality show within a show”
format. For more information, visit www.SuenoMLS.com.